Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) are Crescentrating's top 2 Muslim (Halal) friendly shopping destinations for 2011. These two destinations not only offer a great shopping experience, but for Muslim shoppers, Halal food and prayer facilities are easily accessible in the Malls and in the shopping districts.

A fascinating city with several historic monuments, Samarkand is also acknowledged as the crossroads of cultures. When Ibn Battuta visited teh city in the 14th century, even though the city was not in good shape, he describes the beauty of the mausoleums and the Islamic architecture. Samarkand was one of the major points in the ancient Silk Road in Central Asia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of Crescentrating will be talkiing to Freda Liu (host of the Resource Centre program) on BFM Radio on the 14th April at 1:00pm. Fazal will be discussing about the how Crescentrating got started, the market potential and opportunities in the Halal Friendly Travel segment. 

Our Vision

At Crescentrating, our vision is to enable Muslims to explore the world with peace of mind by leading the growth of "Halal Friendly Travel" to benefit Travelers, Travel Service providers, Our Shareholders and the Community as a whole.

Our Mission

• Raise industry awareness on the Halal Friendly Travel
• Promote Crescentrating standards globally
• Support the growth of the market segment through travel portals, mobile applications, publications & MICE activities
  

Our Commitment

Be the Credible, Knowledgeable and Globally Trusted brand for Halal Friendly Travel

• Credible and Knowledgeable on Halal Friendly Travel
• A Globally recognized Brand
• Trusted for its values and perspective on Halal Friendly Travel

In recent times we have witnessed a huge growth in the "Halal Food and Beverages Industry" as well as the "Islamic Banking and Finance Industry". This trend has now gone beyond the food and the banking industries and increasingly extending to lifestyle and leisure activities; in particular the Travel and Tourism industry with Halal conscious Muslim consumers becoming increasing mobile for business, leisure, healthcare, etc..,

In order to facilitate the growth of this segment, so that both the Travel & Hospitality service providers as well as the Muslim consumers can benefit, we have defined this segment as the "Halal Friendly Travel" segment. For many reasons we hold the view that using such terms as "Halal Travel", "Islamic Travel" , "Halal Hotel", "Shariat Compliant Hotel" etc.., to define this market segment or the services targeted at this segment, is not appropriate.

We also developed the world first rating system to rate Travel & Hospitality Services and Facilities for Halal Friendliness. These include the availability of Halal Food or information on Halal Food, Prayer information, etc..,

With the growth of Muslim travellers forecasted to outpace the growth of other travel segments, Halal Friendly Travel market is increasingly becoming a key segment for the travel industry. This segment of travellers spent USD 126 Billion in 2011 a figure which is expected to grow to USD 200 billion by 2020.

For the travel industry, this means taking into account the needs of the Muslim travelers in developing their services and facilities. For the Muslim Halal conscious consumers it is about being able to make educated choices when it comes to making their travel plans.

Many destinations are already beginning to see the potential and are making adgustments to their services to take into account the unique needs of this group of travellers. This is opening up many new destinations for the Halal conscious travellers.

The Travel industry has many hundred years of experience in handling the unique requirements of the different segment of travellers they wish to attract and will eventually make the necessary adjustments to make all of their visitors comfortable. Majority of them will eventually embrace the basic "Halal friendly" requirements while still providing the services and facilities for other guests.

Bukhara is the capital of the Bukhara Province and was an important city along the Silk Road. When Ibn Battuta visited Bukhara it was struggling to revive the aftermath of the Tartar armies. As described in the Rihla the colleges, markets and masaajid of the city were in ruins. Bukhara in the ancient times was one of the biggest commercial centres on the Silk Road and had over 140 architectural sites.

Uzbekistan is one of the independent central asian states and shares borders with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The region was once a part of Persian Samanid Empire and later became a part of the Timurid Empire.

SAMI (Socially Acceptable Market Investments) Halal Food Index and the SAMI Halal Participation Index (compliant with AAOIFI criteria) were launched at the recently concluded World Halal Forum in Kuala Lumpur. This World's first Halal Food indexes are initial steps to bring together the Halal Industry and the Islamic Finance Industry.

Bajrakli Masjid in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia

The Bajrakli Masjid is the only masjid in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. At the time of the Ottoman rule in the area there were 273 masaajid but this is the only masjid remaining in the city. The masjid was built in 1575 in the typical Ottoman style and was originally called as Cohadzi masjid. The masjid has been damaged and restored several times.

Sohaib (Radiallahu-anhu) narrates that whenever Prophet (Sallallahu-alaihi-wassallam) intended to enter a town, on seeing the town, he invoked:

اللَّهُـمَّ رَبَّ السَّمَوَاتِ السَّبْعِ وَمَـا أَظْلَلْنَ ، وَرَبَّ الأَرَاضِيْـنَ السَّبْعِ وَمَـا أَقْلَلْنَ ، وَرَبَّ الشَّـيَاطِيْنَ وَمَا أَضْلَلْنَ وَرَبَّ الرِّياَحِ وَمَا ذَرَيْنَ. أَسْـأَلُكَ خَيْرَ هَذِهِ الْقَرْيةِ وَخَيْرَ أَهْلِهَا وَخَيْرَ مَا فِيْهَا ، وَأَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّهَا وَشَرِّ أَهْلِهَا ، وَشَرِّ مَا فِيْهَا.

‘O Allah, Rabb of the seven heavens and all that they envelop, Rabb of the seven earths and all that they carry, Rabb of the devils and all whom they misguide, Rabb of the winds and all whom they whisk away. I ask You for the goodness of this town, the goodness of its inhabitants and for all the goodness found within it and I take refuge with You from the evil of this town, the evil of it's inhabitants and from all the evil found within it.'

(Mustadrak Hakim)